About eight years ago or so I wanted to start practicing meditation, so I read quite a bit on this topic. But I was just overwhelmed by the endless information out there on this topic! I always thought that this is so complicated and I wasn't really sure where to start, so at the end I started only about seven months ago! Even though I am only a beginner it is really amazing to experience already now how great and positive I feel after each meditation session. It is not easy to sit quiet and still for however many minutes, and it can be very challenging to keep the mind calm. But at the end it is so worth it and with time I am learning how to put my mind at ease. As I know how confusing all the information out there could be, I think that the below overview by Ralph Wilms (founder of the Transpersonal Academy - www.mindchange.ch) could be helpful for any beginner like myself. The overview gives you an understanding of why it is important to meditate and the benefits. In addition, if you need some guidance with meditation, as recommended by Ralph Wilms, you might find this app quite useful www.silencefinder.com

Enjoy reading the below overview, and make sure that you share your thoughts and experiences with meditation.

Stay healthy,

Anna

WHY MEDITATE?

Meditation, practiced well, can put you into the flow-state. Flow is another word for a state in which you find joy, clarity and fulfilment. Many athletes and business people use the flow-state of peak performance to achieve their goals.

Daydreaming, where the mind is wandering and worrying, is the opposite of flow. It’s a state in which we are busy with future problems, fears, desires and, miss the present moment. A recent Harvard study by Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert demonstrates that our standard way of thinking, which means getting lost in the 40,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day which dominate our wandering mind, is an unhappy state.

Meditation allows you to control the daydreaming and wandering mind, without getting lost in fears, worries and doubts. By practicing meditation on a daily basis you build new neuronal pathways in your brain, which eventually allow you to encounter more and more joy and flow in your life.

By meditation you improve your health by getting access to your self-healing capacity, because your immune system is directly linked to the quality of your thought. You will be able to use the power of your mind to achieve your goals in life more easily, because you give less energy to negative thinking.

Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever you think becomes a probability. When you think it often, it becomes a believable and final reality. Meditation allows you to use positive thinking and positive beliefs, by focusing your mind and thus to create the reality you want.

CAN ANYONE LEARN MEDITATION?

Almost everybody can learn to meditate, but some have difficulties to sit silently even for a couple of minutes, because they are “moving types”. For moving types meditation can be running, biking or rowing. Any type of regular, repetitive movement can also put you into the thoughtless space of meditation.

Be aware that in the beginning it might not be easy to just sit silently, because your system is wired up to think, move or have fun. To start with you may therefore encounter some resistance to meditation because

Nothing interesting might happen, so your mind easily gets bored

The body is used to moving around and will send you impulses to move

Your emotional centre is looking for fun and meditation isn’t as entertaining